Bhima-Koregaon case: Hearing on Sudha Bharadwaj’s bail plea begins

The Bombay high court (HC) on Friday began hearing arguments for granting bail to civil rights activist and lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, arrested in connection with the

The Bombay high court (HC) on Friday began hearing arguments for granting bail to civil rights activist and lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, arrested in connection with the Bhima Koregaon incident that took place last year. Her lawyer Yug Choudhary told the bench of justice Sarang Kotwal that there are contradictions in the affidavit filed by Pune Police.

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In the affidavit, Bharadwaj is shown to have been present for a mohalla committee meeting on January 2, 2018, while she was actually in Faridabad as per the call data record (CDR), said Choudhary.

He also said that two letters being referred to by Pune Police to prove that Bharadwaj was part of CPI-Maoist, a banned organisation, were not seized from her possession or from her devices. The bench was informed that the two letters, allegedly recovered from the devices of co-accused Rona Wilson and Surendra Gadling, were unsigned, unverified and unauthenticated.

Choudhary submitted that the investigators had arrested Bharadwaj without proving the authorship and veracity of the document, and she had been arrested merely because it was written in her name. He said that anyone could write a letter to the highest authority in the Maoist group or even Mao himself with the name and signature of a third person.

Chaudhary submitted that the prosecution’s entire case depended on a single witness, who claimed to have seen the seized documents. “They think if they chant the mantra of national security loudly enough, the court will close its mind, and rubber stamp the evidence,” said Choudhary.

After hearing the submissions, the court sought a compilation of the documents and affidavit and said it would continue hearing arguments on Wednesday.